“He’s going on shockingly, Phineas. Drinks heavily, and Saul encourages him. Don’t you think we ought to do something?”
“No. Impossible.”
“About him, perhaps; but about dear Gertrude.”
“What can we do?”
“Get her away from here. I am so sick of it. It’s terrible the way he goes on. Really, I think sometimes the old man would have done better to have left his money to Saul.”
“Oh, hang it, no, my dear. We’re in for it, though. Can’t we go home?”
“Decidedly not—without Gertrude.”
“But she isn’t our child.”
“Now, if you are going to talk rubbish, Phineas, I’ve done. I know she is not our child, but is that any reason why we should shut our bowels of compassion against her?”
“No, my dear.”